September 2011 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 5. DOWN EAST HOME COOKIN' By Arthur S. Woodward


What do you want for dinner? That might be a typical question from a Down East Maine wife to a husband who would be home for dinner that day. Or, if her husband went lobstering or had some other work that re- quired him to carry a lunch and be away at dinner time (noon) she might ask him about supper. He might respond with a speciûc request for a favorite meal, or, he might give her a noncommittal answer, such as, “Oh, I don’t know.”


In talking about meals, let’s establish some ground rules, whether you agree with them or not. In the old days, for example when I was growing up on the Coast of Maine, these meal names generally applied. Of course, breakfast was the first meal of the day. At or around noon would be either lunch or dinner. If the hearty mid-day meal would be eaten at home, aboard a boat, or in a restau- rant it would be dinner. If that light meal would be carried and/or eaten away from home it was lunch. The third meal of the day was supper. The heartiest meal of the day would be either dinner or supper, depending upon the work situation of the family. All that to say this: We’ll use old fashioned terms for meals, as applicable, fully recognizing that times have changed in many homes and it is expected that it is so in many Down East homes as well. The nomenclature of meals is not the primary reason for this thesis about Down East home cookin’.


In Down East restaurants and diners dinner and lunch could be served after break- fast and well into the afternoon. Lunch would likely be a lighter meal than dinner. Dinner and/or supper could be late afternoon or evening. If it was a fundraiser served in a church hall or Grange in early evening it would most likely be a supper.


One point on noon time. In Jonesport and Beals, and in many other communities the arrival of noon was recognized. People could knock off work and have their dinner or lunch. In Beals the bell for the town clock in our church steeple would ring twelve times. The three sardine factories in Jonesport would blow their whistles. The Jonesport firehouse siren would be sounded. All these audible signals to indicate noon.


My wife and I have lived on the Maine coast, indeed on Beals Island where I grew up. We have traveled the beautiful coast of The Maine State a great deal, from one end to the other, so I have a pretty good idea of what I’ll be conveying about food preparation. Additionally, we have traveled a lot in this country and in Canada and have traveled quite extensively in Europe. We’ve enjoyed fine meals in the US and Canada, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Interlaken in Switzerland, and aboard ships as examples. I guess that


qualifies me to be somewhat of a food critic. For several years it has been a concern to me that many restaurants along the Maine coast have gotten away from the good old fashioned Down East recipes that were stock and trade of food services along the coast, and yes, inland Maine, too. All too often many restaurants have tended to serve haute cuisine or other gourmet foods, likely in small portions, rather than simple wholesome, de- licious Down East food in generous quanti- ties. That is very distressing to me. I offer this as my axiom for the way it should be: If you primarily want haute cuisine, or fancy culi- nary creations, and such, do not make Maine your destination for those foods; but, if you want great Down East homecookin’, enjoy your meals in Maine.


Let me further clarify my point. If one wishes to eat haute cuisine, or what also may be referred to as “fancy food” or high level epicurean food, that’s fine. Nothing wrong with that. I can enjoy it, too. Here’s my think- ing: People shouldn’t expect to ûnd much gourmet food or such in Maine. Maine is what I would call a state of mind and memories, as well as a distinguished member of these United States. A distinguishing feature of Maine has been, and to some extent still is, its types of food, whether grown on land or in the ocean. The preparation of that wonderful food is the key as to whether you are eating bona fide Down East food that’ll taste great and stick to your ribs, or, eating gourmet food. Memories of Down East food can last a lifetime.


I’m old enough to remember the wood ûred kitchen stoves and their ovens that didn’t have speciûc temperature readings. I cooked on a cast iron coal ûred stove aboard our lobster smack, and you knew when that oven was hot (no thermometer) and some- times the top of the stove would be red hot. You may rest assured there was no haute cuisine cooked on/in those stoves aboard working boats along the Maine coast. You may be thinking: What types of foods would Arthur be holding out as exem- plary of Down East cookin’? Well, let’s take a look. Most of the foods can be put into these categories: Boiled Fried (fry pan); Fried (deep fat); Baked/Roasted (oven).


Let’s start with Boiling. The first thing that might come to mind is the iconic lobster. Lobsters need no better preparation than boiling. You could say steaming, as they shouldn’t be covered with water. A small amount of water in the pot is OK. If sea water is available, that’s what should be used. Enjoying a freshly boiled lobster is hard to beat. After boiling they can be fried in a fry pan with butter and they can be put into stew, whether boiled or fried. Boiled lobsters make great lobster salads, for eating as salad or


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putting into sandwiches. Likely the most typical way to cook and prepare lobster is boiling.


Boiling beef, chicken, smoked shoul- ders, sea birds, ûsh, shell fish, eggs, and vegetables is typical Down East style. Corned beef and cabbage, with potatoes, carrots, turnip, and onion is a typical Down East dinner. Boiling can result in chowders, soups, stews of various ingredients, but, it may be an acceptable rule for many Down East cooks that “nothing green” (other than cabbage) goes into these delicious meals. Boiling various things together is a very popular way to cook many foods in a DownEast fashion. Maybe this will work for you: If in doubt, boil it.


Let’s go to Frying. The cast iron fry pan is a multipurpose implement in Down East cooking. The fry pan is good for frying ûsh, ham , steak, chicken, bacon, eggs (possibly fried in bacon fat), fried potatoes and onions (fried in water, some fat, and of course like most everything cooked, pepper and salt, and eaten as a meal with stripped dry codûsh and hot biscuits (and likely topped off with pie or cake), clams, scallops, corned beef hash, pancakes, salt pork scraps for salt fish and potatoes or corned hake, and various other foods not boiled or baked. Deep fat frying would generally be rel- egated to donuts of various favors, and for small balls of yeast bread dough called “frogs” (or possibly several other names). This type of frying would likely be done in a “kittle” and some or all of the fat could be lard. Now we turn to Baking and Roasting. Down East cookin’ includes a great number of oven uses for baking and roasting. Baking produces many varieties of cookies, breads,


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a vast array of cakes and pies, custards, puddings, baked potatoes, and such, which are typical Down East foods. A famous Down East meal, particularly Saturday night sup- per, is baked beans and brown bread, and/or hot yeast rolls or johnny cake.


Roasting and baking can be done with about any kind of beef, pork, deer, ûsh, ham, poultry, sea ducks, casseroles, loaves (such as salmon, meat), all with simple flavoring and delicious.


If you peruse an authentic cook book from Down East you will be amazed at the wide range of delightful, tasty, hearty reci- pes. You should also be impressed by the fact that these generally will definitely not be considered haut cuisine, or fancy. But, you may be assured that the meals will be memo- rable and delicious. And, speaking of recipes, many Down East cooks may consider a recipe a suggestion of ingredients. Experience has taught them what they need to know. If a recipe calls for lard or shortening the size of an egg, that’s close enough. Many things cooked do not require looking at a recipe at all. Again, experience. Molasses is a key ingredi- ent in many recipes for cakes, cookies, do- nuts, and baked beans. Karo syrup, brown sugar, white sugar, spices such as cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg are popular ingre- dients in a number of recipes.


In serving food, presentation is impor- tant. Elaborately prepared “fine dining” meals will likely be served in relatively small portions, and may be garnished, drizzled with fruit sauce, and such, in artistic and odd combinations. For Down East food in homes the presentation may well be family style


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